Quebec
We crossed the border this morning with no trouble. It rained all the way north and east until we got to Quebec City. Luckily it slowed down to a drizzle while we walked around the old part of the town - up on the hill overlooking the St. Lawrence. Big statue of Samuel Champlain, the European that discovered it - of course the locals were already here.
The Cheateau Fronteac is still very impressive - a big hotel in the prime spot overlooking the river. It was a place where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met during WW2.
Cheateau Frontenac
Effie enjoyed walking around, especially interested in the horse drawn carriages, She never barked at them - just watched them. People were watching her - many couldn’t resist a little smile when looking at her, others were very careful to give her some room. A few asked if they could pet her - and of course they could.
At the campsite, she always has to walk around the area - then she gets under the picnic table and digs a little hole to settle in and cool off while watching everything and everyone. It was in the low 60’s most of the day. Sounds like it may be a rainy week.
WE are staying in a campsite near Mt St. Anne, a few miles east of Quebec City. It is a large ski area
To Baie-Comeau
Spent a nice sunny day (75F) driving up along the north side of the St. Lawrence. The Gaspe Peninsula became smaller and dimmer – but it was still visible after all day.
Gaspe across big St. Lawrence
When we left St. Anne along a back road – we noticed many (½) homes with metal roofs – snow slides off. A lot of them were curved at the lower edges – maybe to kick the snow away from the house. There were a lot of large piles of wood ready for the winter.
Curved metal roof
We were following the “Route des Baleines” - whales come up the St Lawrence and whale watching is a big business. We did see 2 belugas when took a big ferry across a fiord -free – probably cheaper than building and maintaining a bridge.
There were a few nice harbors – one with a schooner.
Schooner
We are camping in a big campsite just before Baie-Comeau - down on the water. The beach has many sunbathers. There are lots of vacation homes.
A guy from Ontario at the campsite just came in from Newfoundland across Labrador – he said there was lots of gravel roads – about 3 km that was very rough. Lots of bugs – and he had rain for 3 days. He figures about 24 hours of driving time.
Diesel fuel is about 1.03/liter – same as gas. Probably more diesel is sold to the big trucks than gas to the cars. It is not more expensive than Quebec City yet. I was expecting a 40 percent increase by now. Big business up here is mining and hydro power.
photos later